Championship leader Scott McLaughlin has put his Falcon into the wall in practice, walking away unhurt but unsure ahead of the penultimate meet of the Supercars season at Pukekohe Park.
The 25-year-old looked shaken after an uncharacteristic error at his home circuit on Friday.
After topping the timing charts in the morning's practice session, the DJR Team Penske man was fastest again during the early stages of their afternoon tune-up.
But McLaughlin looked for too much at turn two at the regional New Zealand circuit, losing control and locking up before spearing into the wall.
"I just overstepped the mark. Completely my fault," he said.
[But never fear McLaughlin fans, the car has been fixed and is ready to go.]
McLaughlin reported to the medical centre but was quickly released, even though damage to his Falcon made it impossible to return for the rest of practice.
"It was a pretty big hit, it felt big but I can't do much about it now," he says.
"I've got to own it and get over it. I'm pretty disappointed in myself."
"I've given [my pit team] a whole heap of work they didn't need so I give myself a kick up the arse."
Despite the crumpled hood and damage to the car's exterior, McLaughlin's team is expected to have car No.17 ready for qualifying and racing on Saturday.
In his absence, Jamie Whincup was quickest on Friday with a 1:02.6575 lap, ahead of David Reynolds and Mark Winterbottom.
McLaughlin leads van Gisbergen by 14 points with the two races in New Zealand and two races in Newcastle remaining in the series.
The meet is effectively a two-man showdown given Whincup, in third place, is 419 points behind second-placed van Gisbergen.
AAP.